Front-End on Caktus Group

JavaScript Variable Declaration in the 21st Century

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 15:32:15 +0000

October 2020 marked the 14th anniversary of the introduction of “let” and "const" to Javascript. Yes, it was in 2006 that this feature was first introduced, and we’re still having conversations about it. So why, you ask, are we still talking about this? It seems that a lot of confusion remains, not to mention a lot of old code being passed around on StackOverflow with “var” all over the place. Here I’ll discuss the difference between these three declarations, and come to a conclusion about best practices

Vue or React: How to Choose?

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 20:16:19 +0000

Across industries and sectors, we have become accustomed to seeing great rivalries that drive further innovation and competition. In the early days of car manufacturing, we had Ford and Chevy. In the early days of beverage and bottling, we had Coca-Cola and Pepsi. And today in front-end software development, we have Vue and React. As a framework and a library, respectively, both single page applications (SPAs) are tackling Document Object Model (DOM) Manipulation in markedly improved ways from their predecessor JQuery; with the added benefit of offering state management and code-splitting up front. However, as Django developers, we often struggle to decide between these two titans when choosing a front-end for our Django REST Framework (DRF) APIs. In writing this blog post, we hope to alert you to some of the key distinctions between Vue and React, as well as some of their similarities, before you move forward with either for your team.

Single Page Application + REST as an Abstraction: The Benefits of Decoupling Your Front & Back Ends

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:18:18 +0000

Monolithic, consolidated applications are not bad. These are your Rails apps, your Django apps, etc. — the ones where your server sends back HTML and assets. You’ve faithfully followed the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern as best you can and your concerns are “separated.” This design principle is not passé. It just so happens that for a long time, it was your only option.

Caktus Blog Best of 2017

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 14:30:00 +0000

With 2017 now over, we highlight the top 17 posts published or updated on the Caktus blog this year. Have you read them all?

Supercharging your CSS with Stylus and PostCSS

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 14:30:00 +0000

Here at Caktus the front-end team stays on the bleeding edge by taking advantage of the latest and greatest tools. We only incorporate features into our packaging that are well-supported and production-ready, as well as those that meet our list of standard browser requirements. Luckily, there are plenty of tools that allow us to use experimental technologies with appropriate fallbacks for non-supported browsers.

CSS Tip: Fixed Headers and Section Anchors

Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:30:00 +0000

Fixed headers are a common design pattern that keeps navigation essentials in easy reach as users meander down a page. Keeping a header fixed as the user scrolls can free up horizontal space for smaller devices by avoiding sidebars, and keeps your branding visible.

False Peaks and Temporary Code

Mon, 11 Sep 2017 13:30:00 +0000

In the day-to-day work of building new software and maintaining old software, we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture. I think we can find perspective when we step back and walk through the evolution of a single piece of software.

ShipIt Day Recap Q3 2017

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 13:30:00 +0000

Caktus recently held the Q3 2017 ShipIt Day. Each quarter, employees take a step back from business as usual and take advantage of time to work on personal projects or otherwise develop skills. This quarter, we enjoyed fresh crêpes while working on a variety of projects, from coloring books to Alexa skills.

ShipIt Day Recap Q2 2017

Wed, 03 May 2017 13:30:00 +0000

Once per quarter, Caktus employees have the opportunity to take a day away from client work to focus on learning or refreshing skills, testing out ideas, or working on open source contributions. The Q2 2017 ShipIt Day work included building apps, updating open source projects, trying out new tools, and more. Keep reading for the details.

Opening External Links: Same Tab or New?

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 11:00:00 +0000

The Debate

My teammates and I recently engaged in a spirited debate over whether outbound links (links to external websites) should open in the same or in a new tab. “Same tab” was a default behavior for a set of external links on a project we were working on. A suggestion had been made, however, that the behavior be changed.

How to make a jQuery

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Learn to live without jQuery by learning how to clone it

jQuery is one of the earliest libraries every web developer learns, and often is the first experience with programming of any sort someone has. It provides a very safe cushion between a developer and the rough edges of web development. But, it can also obscure learning Javascript itself and learning what web APIs are capable of without the abstraction over them that jQuery adds.

ShipIt Day Recap: Q2 2016

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Last Friday, the Cakti set aside regular client projects for our quarterly ShipIt Day, a chance for personal development and independent projects. People work individually or in groups to flex their creativity, tackle interesting problems, or expand their personal knowledge. This quarter’s ShipIt Day was all about open source contributions, frontend fixes, and learning new (or revisiting old) programming languages. Read about the various ShipIt Day projects for Q2 of 2016 below.

What We're Clicking - March Link Roundup

Tue, 05 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0000

We’re starting a new, monthly series on the Caktus blog highlighting the articles and posts shared by Cakti that drew the most attention on Twitter. These roundups will include everything from Django how-tos to explorations of the tech industry, to innovations for social good.

Caktus Internship Fuels a Career Re-Launch

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 13:28:53 +0000

What is it like to be an intern at Caktus? I am finishing up as the spring Django intern (though I didn’t actually use any Django), so I’ll share my experience.

Time for Flexbox First

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +0000

The web development community has a habit of declaring “firsts” those practices and approaches that reach some ill-defined status signaling they are the go-to way to solve a particular problem. We’ve seen “mobile first” and, more recently, “offline first.” In these examples, a new problem comes along and as that problem grows more common there comes a tipping point. On the other side of that tipping point, it begins to make sense to solve the problem from the ground up, rather than building a project and solving it as an afterthought.

Q3 2015 ShipIt Day ReCap

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Last Friday marked another ShipIt Day at Caktus, a chance for our employees to set aside client work for experimentation and personal development. It’s always a wonderful chance for our developers to test new boundaries, learn new skills and sometimes even build something entirely new in a single day.

ShipIt Day 4: SaltStack, Front-end Exploration, and Django Core

Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:51:54 +0000

Last week everyone at Caktus stepped away from client work for a day and a half to focus on learning and experimenting. This was our fourth ShipIt day at Caktus, our first being almost exactly a year ago. Each time we all learn a ton, not only by diving head first into something new, but also by hearing the experiences of everyone else on the team.

UNC, Duke Team up with Carrboro-based Caktus Group on HIV Gaming App

Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:46:13 +0000

The following is a press release posted in partnership with our team at UNC and Duke.

The web application development company Caktus Group has teamed up with researchers at the UNC Institute for Global Health & Infectious Diseases and the Duke Global Health Institute to develop a mobile phone app that may help patients better adhere to their medication regimens.

django-scribbler, a lightweight front-end interface for Django template editing

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:36:44 +0000

django-scribbler is a new open-source project published by the team at Caktus. Its goal is to create a seamless way for authorized end users to make edits to specific blocks of content in their Django template.